A VIEW ON A ROOM
Antiques expert JUDITH MILLER tours her favourite room from this issue’s houses – the Library of Castle Howard in Yorkshire
CLASSICAL-STYLE BOOKCASES
It’s fitting that the most impressive of the many fine architectural fixtures and furnishings in the Library are the bookcases. Designed by Julian Bicknell to house 9,000 antiquarian books, they are in sympathy with Castle Howard’s origins. Modelled in the classical style, with features such as columns, pilasters, plinths, geometric mouldings, dropped keystones and broken pediments, they were inspired by architectural details from antiquity and their later reinterpretations.
SCULPTURAL FEMALE BUST
Dramatically displayed to the left of the door is a plaster copy of the marble bust of Elizabeth Howard (1780–1825), whose family home was Castle Howard. The original sculpture by Joseph Nollekens (1737–1823) is at Belvoir Castle in Lincolnshire. Nollekens was generally considered to be the finest British sculptor of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Having studied in Rome, the classical Roman style of his portrait busts is clearly evident in an eminent list of subjects that also included King George III, William Pitt the Younger, the novelist Laurence Sterne, and the actor, playwright and theatre impresario David Garrick.
PAIR OF LIBRARY DESKS
In commercial settings such as banks, these desks would be referred to as ‘partners’ desks’ because they could accommodate two users, one either side, at the same time. Here, however, the correct description would be a ‘kneehole pedestal desk’ or a ‘library desk’. Large desks with storage (cupboards or drawers) supporting desktops sturdy enough to take the weight of heavy, leather-bound books, evolved during the 18th century as libraries became an increasingly standard feature in wealthy, educated households. Constructed from mahogany, with gilt-tooled leather writing tops, one of these dates to c1780. The other is a fine- quality, 20th- century reproduction, and saying which is which would be telling!
UPHOLSTERED ARMCHAIRS
One of a suite of eight dotted around the room, this upholstered open armchair dates from c1780 and the reign of King George III. It features a padded, cartouche-shaped back, curved and padded arm supports, an overstuffed seat with a serpentine-profile front rail, carved cabriole front legs, and outsplayed back legs, inspired by French chairs of the same period, and consequently this is an English chair in the ‘French taste’.
INDIAN PATTERNED RUG
Rugs and carpets of Near, Middle, and Far-Eastern origin have been employed underfoot in the reception rooms of grander English houses since the late 17th century. The standout example here, to the left of the desks, is an Indian rug of c1890. An exotic, floral pattern, vegetable- dyed in saturated tones of turquoise and blue, pink and red, it was made in the historic weaving centre of Multan (upon partition in 1947, Multan became part of Pakistan).
ARCHITECTURAL DESK LAMPS
The distinctive, crane-like ‘ Tizio’ desk lamps were created in 1972 by the German-born, Milan-based industrial designer Richard Sapper for Artemide. The first domestic lamp to use a halogen bulb (nowadays an energy- conserving LED equivalent), powered by a transformer in the base, they are crafted from lightweight aluminium with a matt-black painted finish. Directionally adjustable, they are an elegant, classic fusion of German engineering and Italian design.